


Like oil in water

by Luna_Arsenica



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-29 01:46:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8470837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Arsenica/pseuds/Luna_Arsenica
Summary: They couldn't be anymore different, but Re:vale works precisely because of that.
(Basically just a lot of fluff)





	1. Sun and moon

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series of drabbles I planned and started writing looong ago, back when part 2 was barely starting and I fell hard for the nice senpais, but we're officially a week away from Momo's birthday (in JP's timezone anyway) and since they're seven drabbles I supposed this is a good time to post it. So, enjoy!

Momo is kinda like a happy sun, Yuki thinks sometimes. He's like a happy sun that shines brightly, that guides and helps others grow big and strong with his light and his smile. He's the happy sun that makes Yuki shine too, and while he'd never even think about telling their fans, he's also the reason why Yuki's still shining, the only reason why he decided to keep going.

 

Momo is everyone's happy sun, but for Yuki he was the one that brightened the darkness he felt when he couldn't find his way out of it. Momo somehow managed to find his way to Yuki and shine on it all, but even under the lights Yuki still feels like he's not that bright.

 

This is a recurrent thought for Yuki, but it escapes his lips once, barely a mumble that Momo catches anyway, the softest "You're just like the happy sun to a gloomy moon"

 

And Momo looks shocked, but he reacts right away, bright smile ready to turn things around for Yuki.

 

"No way, no way! You're the brightest one here, Yuki, anyone can see that!"

 

"Even blind people?" and it's not hard for Yuki to fall into their comical format, out of habit or out of the need to distance himself from heavy feelings.

 

"Blind people too, I'm sure!" Momo makes a really exaggerated serious face, and his certainty never fails to reassure Yuki, but that's not the last he had to say on the matter. Still as dynamic as ever, his expression changes in a blink for a warm and energetic one as he takes one of Yuki's hands in his own "But you know, the moon isn't always gloomy, and even if it doesn't shine by itself, it's still as important for people! It's there when the sun isn't, it brightens the way for travelers and makes nights romantic for the lovers, and it's so beautiful you can't help but miss it when it's not there!"

 

Yuki feels the blood and the heat that starts accumulating in his face and feels the need to dissipate it, but barely manages a nervous "Is that so"

 

Momo just nods and smiles sweetly for him and Yuki thinks to himself that the way he kisses him is unfair, but he'll allow it. He'll always allow it as long as Momo is still his reason to keep going, his happy sun shining by his side.


	2. Honesty

Maybe it was the skinship they had on stage, maybe it was the flirting off-stage. Momo didn't really know what it was but something convinced him that maybe it wasn't just wishful thinking, that maybe after one year working so closely with Yuki he might actually have a chance if he told him how he felt.

 

Of course, what Momo had in mind was as simple as "Yuki, I like you, do you feel the same, yes/no?", so he honestly had no idea how it had come to "I don't know how I feel about you and I know it's been like a year but it feels like everything's going too fast and what do we do if it doesn't turn out like we wanted" and a lot of insecure stuff that was starting to make him doubt himself too.

 

Momo probably should have anticipated that Yuki might feel a bit cornered if he just went and said something like that, a sudden "I love you" much more honest than his usual cheerful teasing. But it had never been a joke, and he needed Yuki to know that. Momo saw him looking at his old pictures with sad eyes and he saw the vacant stare in them when he got lost in thoughts, but he also saw how beautiful Yuki looked when he couldn't hold in the laughter at a silly joke and he saw how he looked at the ring in his finger, the one that matched with Momo's.

 

He had to say it, "I love you", the words  _ "This is not a joke" _ implied behind that familiar phrase.

 

And if Yuki felt afraid, he could understand that. And if what he felt was confusion, he knew how that felt too, but if taking Yuki's hand in his could at least bring him back to reality from his thoughts, then Momo was glad he had the courage to reassure Yuki, the words spilling out of his mouth a bit too fast but still as strong-willed as he could say them, "I think it's obvious that something's going on between us, and I don't think I can hold it in anymore unless you tell me right here, right now that you don't want it. That I messed up. That you don't like me that way."

 

Yuki gave him a nervous smile, looking away as he tried to joke his way out of it "I didn't know you could be so serious about anything, Momo"

 

Momo knew if he had tried to smile he'd probably look way too nervous, even more than Yuki, so he decided to be as honest as he could, at least about this "You are the one thing I'll always be serious about"

 

"Really? What about work?" a hint of laughter hid in Yuki's voice, and Momo almost felt relieved that it was there, but no matter how beautiful it was Momo couldn't let him get away, so he simply answered "Work is related to you, so I'll always be serious about it too, don't worry. Just don't change the subject"

 

Yuki sighed, but at least he was paying attention, listening closely, doing his best to look at Momo in the eye "Well... wouldn't that be terribly awkward? I know that you know that neither of us is joking when we flirt, on or off-stage, but what if we mess up? What if that isn't what we want to have?"

 

"Yuki. I know that you are all that I want to have, if you'll have  _ me _ " Momo almost wanted to look away, but he knew his determination was the only thing keeping Yuki in this conversation, this subject, so he needed to gather all of his courage again, to ask one more time "Do you like me, Yuki?"

 

Yuki looked frustrated, then nervous, then he bit his lower lip, then he closed his eyes and sighed and for a second his face was really close to Momo's, Yuki's eyes closing again slowly

 

but he opened them again and said only "I do"

 

And that was all Momo needed.

 

He closed the distance, feeling Yuki's lips for the first time after so many times repressing the need to kiss them, stopping himself from kissing Yuki in the middle of a live or in their dressing room when they were too close but not enough.

 

And he felt it more on his lips than he heard it, but Momo knew his senses weren't fooling him when he heard Yuki whisper "I love you"

 

The sweet smiles on their faces as they separated matched as well as the rings on their fingers.


	3. Passion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there be mentions of sex in this chapter.

Sometimes, Yuki wonders how they even make it to a bed.

 

Well, more like he wonders how they make it to _anywhere private_ , be it one of their homes, their dressing room, a bathroom, _anywhere_ where they can find just a bit of privacy. They'd make do with only the minimum, only enough to add an atmosphere of intimacy to the raw need that leads them to leave their workspaces a bit too quickly.

 

It's not like they do it on purpose - after all, neither of them would hinder their work for any reason at all. It _is_ what they love. But their public image, their very lovey-dovey-ish image, requires some intimacy on camera. It asks for a subtle but natural touch here, a flirty look there, a short distance between them, as short as possible...

 

They really can't help it if all they want to do once their job is done is devour each other.

 

If Momo is serious only about him, Yuki in exchange can say that there's nothing he's more passionate about than Momo. Momo and his smile, Momo and his laugh and his sparkling eyes and his singing voice and his happiness. Waking up next to him after a night he barely remembers but feels content about, wine still in his system but quickly replaced by emotions swelling his chest and Yuki can't control himself, and no one can blame him if the first thing he wants to do is kiss Momo until the hangover's gone.

 

It's not like Yuki has to control himself when it comes to Momo, anyway.

 

This isn't to say that he'd like Momo to control himself either, but he _does_ make things harder for Yuki sometimes, once in a while, when he somehow doesn't feel as aflame as Yuki does (because Yuki always feels aflame) and instead feels like playing with him. Seeing how far he can get before Yuki whines, begs, asks him to do whatever but just stop the foreplay and get the party started already.

 

There's times when Yuki really doesn't care anymore who gets to top or even who gets to be in control - if he has to give himself, leave himself in Momo's hands, he knows from experience that his lover is more than capable. But it's exactly at times like that that Momo refuses to give in, and Yuki really has no idea how he can make do with just touching him, rubbing his dick against his body, fucking him anywhere but where Yuki wants him, or kissing him everywhere, in that fervent but reverent way Momo has of kissing him.

 

But Yuki eventually asks, frustration and need clear in his voice, and he swears ignorance would be bliss for him when Momo answers, miraculously smooth in his own lustful excitement "It's just, you look really nice when you're desperate like this"

 

Of course, leave it to Momo to try and drag a different side of Yuki from him even if it kills him. But then he smiles, and Yuki knows that's not all.

 

"Plus, I'm having fun like this too"

 

Yuki still doesn't know how he managed to keep in the scream he should have let out at that.

  
Sometimes, Yuki realises that, as much as he _burns_ when Momo seduces him, he's still a bit too shy for his partner.


	4. Admiration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: spoilers for chapter 10 of main story, part 2

Yuki becomes a lot more honest once he starts drinking, and Momo finds out with time that this is a double edged sword, something that can become a prize or a punishment for him when he decides not to join Yuki with a glass.

 

He usually does, because drinking with Yuki is much more fun than taking the risk of having him hit at his every weak point, each and every of his insecurities about  _ this _ , but sometimes he wants to wake up alcohol free and he isn't surprised to see how fast Yuki goes from the giddiness of having a good wine to the longing for his lost partner. The one Momo can't replace no matter what, the one Yuki never really stopped thinking about.

 

And Momo sighs, and he just brushes Yuki's hair absentmindedly as the older lies in his lap, and thinks to himself that just being with Yuki is a privilege in itself.

 

The fact that they're more than friends should be enough for Momo, and it usually is, but on nights like this he really wants to down a glass himself.

 

Anyone could say he didn't think this through, and he honestly didn't the first, the second time he went to Yuki crying and begging him to go on being an idol, but he had his time to think seriously about it during the whole month it took for Yuki to finally say  _ 'yes' _ .

 

He still thought about it even now, on nights like this, and he still can say firmly that he regrets nothing.

 

There isn't anything Momo wouldn't give to see Yuki performing, on or off stage, as his fan or his partner, and this is only another part of what he has to endure to see him happy and successful.

 

After all, there really isn't anything he wouldn't do for that dream, even if he stopped listening to Yuki's depressing mumbles about  _ him _ hours ago, almost as soon as he started, and decided to content himself with brushing his hair, looking at his beautiful face.

 

Then it happens. Yuki says his name, a very dizzy voice mumbles "Momo", and he lets his hand caress Yuki's face softly, asks "what" only to let him know he heard and he's there. He's always there.

 

"Sing for me?" he asks, and it's not really a question, but Momo almost laughs it off. Instead, he suggests sweetly, as if speaking to a child, "Okay, let's sing together"

 

"Noooo...." Yuki complains, gaze lost and face red as he explains "I want to hear your voice"

 

His voice sounds kinda slurred, and Momo thinks to himself that he's really wasted this time, thinks about getting a glass of water to make the next morning a bit easier on him, but when he tries to stand up Yuki puts all the weight he can in his head, over Momo's lap, grasps at the air looking for his wrist, doesn't find it.

 

"Don't go" he says, trying to make do with just his voice instead of a physical restraint.

 

Momo stops in his tracks, hand about to grasp Yuki's to reassure him. The words shock him for a second, but it's the tone of his voice, the desperate whine, that paralyzes him. The sounds are familiar, as depressing as always, but Momo had never heard them directed at him, and he recognizes the need to soothe Yuki, as always-

 

_ except this time he can. _

 

So he tries to reason, smiles calmly as he says "I'm only gonna go get you a glass of water"

 

"I don't need it"

 

And there it is. Yuki finds his wrist after all and, more importantly, finally manages to find his eyes, lock them with his own steely ones. Momo marvels at it all, at Yuki's beauty, as he shrugs "You're gonna regret it tomorrow, but okay"

 

Yuki doesn't seem to listen. Instead, he just adds, whispers, almost like an afterthought "I only need you"

 

And Momo swears he doesn't want to break, just put all his energy in smiling instead of crying, and when he does it's so dazzling he feels like his face could split "Really?"

 

Yuki nods, smile wide and silly like Momo only sees when his partner's absolutely wasted, but still convincing, still the sweetest he's ever seen, so full of love, and it's only out of a capricious greed that Momo asks again "Really, really?"

 

Yuki nods again before booping Momo's nose, giggling "I love your voice"

 

Momo is, again, a bit surprised at the sudden surge of honesty, and Yuki takes this chance to add "I love how you're always doing your best"

 

"Yuki..." is all Momo can whisper, and he isn't even sure if he said it after all or just imagined it, if he maybe forgot to call his name out loud, overwhelmed by the situation.

 

"I know you could make anything work, Momo" Yuki's voice softens, and the way he says Momo's name is different even to the way he whispers it when he's sober, or when he's drunk but in a wilder mood. Momo basks in the deeply intimate modulation, the beauty of Yuki's lips and his eyes smiling for him, and swears he'll remember that single word forever.

 

"I love you"

 

They say it in unison, a whisper above each other's lips before the expected kiss, and this night suddenly feels a thousand times better, even more than the ones where Momo gets to have fun with a completely uninhibited Yuki, even more than the times when he himself doesn't know what happened but feels happy that whatever it was happened with Yuki.

 

But he insists, because as much as Yuki tries to act like a proper adult in front of Momo he likes having things his way, and so he asks again "Will you sing for me, Momo?"

 

Momo sighs, more out of love than anything, and kisses Yuki once more just for the heck of it, just because he's there and he's beautiful, before nodding with an energetic smile "Anything for you, darling"


	5. Everything

There are times when Yuki catches Momo staring and instead of the bubbly giddiness he fell in love with he feels the crushing weight of a long hidden pain, the uncertainty behind that smile.

 

Yuki knows (because it would be impossible not to, because where does he have to be looking to not see it), that Momo doesn't feel good enough, that he never has and maybe never will, but does Momo know that Yuki wouldn't change him for anything in this world?

 

Does Momo know that when Yuki looks at him and he's caught staring and all he gets back is an energetic and too sweet,  _ way too sweet _ smile everything feels right in the world for him? Does Momo know how many times he untied the frustrating knots of an art block, how many times just looking at him gives Yuki all of his inspiration back? How being together, or just merely thinking that Momo exists in this world and loves him (and loves him deeply, all honesty, all passion) makes the music and the lyrics flow freely in his head to the point he doesn't know what to write down first?

 

Because that's what Momo is to him - Momo is music and Momo is poetry, and he is happiness and he is life, and Yuki would love to say that to him, "You are everything to me"

 

But he's weak. He doesn't want to hurt Momo with his doubts and fears and his uncertainty that keeps him caged, no matter how strong his feelings grow, how they threaten to break him.

 

He's weak, and instead all he can do is reach softly for Momo's wrist after lives, lips meeting in that tired satisfaction, a long, silent embrace when they need to breathe.

 

The words stay stuck in his throat even when he wants to scream, and instead of those words all that escapes him is a weak "I love you" in a needy moan in between kisses, because not even in the fervent desperation to feel Momo more and more, all of him, everything, can he say them.

  
"You are everything to me". That's all he needs to tell him, and yet he can't ease the pain, he can't reassure Momo, the love of his life, that he is all, truly all he needs.


	6. At first sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler warning for chapter 15 of main story, part 2.

The first time he sees Yuki, Momo knows he's taken.

It also happened to be his first time ever at an idol live, all because his sister insisted ("You'll like them", she said, but she probably couldn't anticipate exactly how much). It ended up turning into something like a bet, like the many they did just for fun, and losing it so blatantly only ended up in Momo treating her to something after the concert (both his sister and her friends agreed that having him treat all of them would be a bit too much for a poor high schooler) and letting her paint his nails while they waited for the orders.

But that was a cheap price to pay (even if he had treated everyone it would still be cheap in comparison) for changing his life. For letting him meet a source of inspiration and strength. For letting him meet the love of his life, basically, and he knew at least his sister hadn't missed the way Momo's eyes opened wide and shone brightly when the lights illuminated that beautiful silver haired man. By the time the live ended, Momo was extremely excited and positively impressed with both members of Re:vale, cool and handsome and very talented in his eyes.

Ah, but his sister knew. Momo knew it, because when he asked her about them, about Re:vale, she just smiled and teased him "That's so cute, my little bro got his first celeb crush!"

Momo wasn't very aware of the term, but after she explained it he still didn't know why it was even necessary to differentiate it from any other kind of crush.

( _"A celeb crush is so impossible you don't even consider it seriously. You still like them even after you fall for someone else, but you know it's not gonna happen"_  


_"In that case, I'd rather call it love at first sight"_ )

His own friends, on the other hand, just asked him if he liked dudes or he liked Yuki because he kinda looked like a girl. Momo only said "I don't care about that - he's beautiful, his voice is amazing and he's super cool"  


They just let his crush be after that, and got used with the time to Momo's long, enthusiastic rants about Re:vale. Just like everyone else in his life. 

\------------

Momo still remembers the feeling (and fondly), living life normally but letting Yuki take each time more space in his head, falling asleep listening to Re:vale and waking up thinking of him. Doing his best in his everyday life, then rewarding himself with their music.

He remembers daydreaming about that first glance he got of Yuki, the first time their eyes crossed in another live and Yuki winked at him (or at least he winked his way, that was hard to know at lives). Momo remembers spending most of his free time studying Yuki - his beautiful face, his clear eyes, his beauty mark and his small, delicate smile.

Yuki shines like an elegant zircon when he talks, and like a crazy diamond when he sings, a gem slowly polishing himself with his partner, a star making its way to the sky.

\------------

By the time Bloody Eve happened, Momo had let love set freely, deep in the bottom of his heart, close to the most important people in his life.

It was indisputable, that he was in love, but no one would've dared argue about that anyway. It became an accepted fact of life, just like the colour of the sky or the rise of the sun every morning.

So, even if Momo himself only stopped to think about what had happened once it was over, it was just predictable. It was just another fact of life: he'd take a bullet for Yuki - a few punches were an understatement.

He felt sorry that he'd troubled his sister, but Momo comforted himself thinking that she'd understand. She knew him well, after all, and both she and their mom loved him precisely because he could just climb to a stage in an instant, without a second thought, to protect his loved ones. And he'd do it again.

Those were his thoughts while the police got his side of the story (a pretty useless side in his opinion, but that was their job and their call to make anyway). He could imagine his sister's unwilling lecture (given only out of obligation), he could already see the red nail polish he had gotten used to wearing anyway, when Re:vale approached him.

His heart skipped a few beats when they asked if he was okay, and it stopped completely when Yuki smiled at him, thanked him and caressed gently his swollen cheek.

He remembers saying something about them being way too handsome up close, but he mainly panicked. So, of course, he only smiled stupidly, his face flustered, unable to look at them in the face even when Ban suggested exchanging contact info.

The silly smile was still firmly in place hours later, his heart finally beating properly, when he faced the expected lecture and red nail polish.

\------------

How he ended up helping Re:vale was a mystery, but also a natural occurrence, and when he actually got to travel with them on tours he felt his heart flutter, he dreamed the brightest colours and the most vivid sensations.

During those incredible days, Momo confirmed his suspicions that Ban was a cool, reliable man and learned a lot about Yuki and his quirks. Laughing at Ban's complaints and Yuki's calm dismissals, he could only find those particularities endearing, they only made him more interested in Yuki.

He learns Yuki is a diamond a bit hard to polish, even by using another diamond, and he appreciates each part he reveals, in a way Momo thinks could be shy at first.

Time shows him Yuki _is_ definitely shy, part of which can make him hard to handle sometimes, but Momo has no problem with that or anything Yuki wants to reveal, sometimes on purpose, sometimes via a slip.

Momo never has a problem with Yuki being himself and this comes as a surprise to absolutely no one.

\------------

Tragedy eventually struck, just when Momo started to think his life was slowly becoming perfect, everyday not just something to look forward to but a dream come true. He remembers thinking, somewhere in the back of his mind (the part unaffected by the deep shock caused by the news of Ban’s disappearance), that those dazzling days where like the calm before the storm, and Momo suddenly finds himself in the eye of the hurricane (comparatively speaking, anyway).

He learns Yuki is not a diamond in the rough, not even an elegant zircon. Yuki is a small pebble by the coast, one that shines beautifully when soaked by the waves, but too much water will drown anyone and Momo doesn’t want that.

All he wants is for Yuki to be a diamond, to be unbreakable, so that he never has to cry his beautiful eyes out again, so that he never has to make his throat so sore that his magnificent voice is barely audible.

Momo doesn’t know what to do until Yuki starts talking about quitting. Then everything becomes obvious to Momo.

He walks into the eyewall.

\------------

Yuki says _‘no’_ more times than Momo can count, and _‘sorry’_ more than he wants to hear it. Momo knows Yuki is kind, so he was probably starting to feel bad about having to reject him so many times, but Momo only wants him to understand that this isn’t about him - it’s about Yuki and Ban and Re:vale and all it means to them. 

Momo says “I’ll make it work”, and he doesn’t say that he has no idea how to but he will, one way or another. He asks once more, asks Yuki to take him for as long as he wants, and promises he’ll make it work.

Yuki finally says _‘yes’_ , and nothing else matters to Momo.

\-------------

Momo barely manages at first, he can barely make do when he first starts practicing with Yuki, but he keeps the same philosophy he's always upheld his whole life: work hard, play hard.

Yuki is patient and teaches Momo everything he needs to know, guides him through idolship as fast as Momo can but never leaving him behind and Momo can't believe how much he loves Yuki.

Their famed comedy routines come naturally to them, a flow of words, actions and gestures and Momo thinks no one could guess each other’s thoughts as perfectly as they do.

Yuki handles their music at first, but Momo eventually starts getting in confidence, he shyly starts trying his hand at composing and it's all about Yuki.

He falls in love with this Re:vale, with he and Yuki.

\-----------

Momo knows what they say about distance, but having Yuki as close as they were at the time only made his heart grow fonder, and he ends up confessing his feelings when he can't hide them anymore.

When Yuki says _'yes'_ again, Momo feels exactly like he felt when Yuki accepted him as his partner. He doesn't take another second to kiss him then and there.

\---------

When Momo looks back at everything, he can’t help but feel like _this_ , this now, is a dream come true.

For a while he feared that this was just the calm before the storm again (he _had_ felt exactly like that five years ago), but instead what they got when Ban approached them again was peace. Of mind, of heart, and some more, the peace Momo couldn’t have when feeling guilty, when feeling like he was just a replacement.

Instead, Momo decides he was right to follow his instincts. It was instinct that got him where he is now, that made him Re:vale’s Momo, Yuki’s partner. He’s always been following his heart, and he keeps getting proof that it was the right thing to do.

Now, when both the people he’s admired for years and his cute kouhais are cheering for him so earnestly, Momo only wants to keep fighting, to work each day harder for the Re:vale of his and Yuki’s dreams.  
He keeps living life like this, following his heart, his instincts, his impulses, because he _could_ make it work after all, because climbing onto a stage to invite himself to a scuffle wasn’t as crazy as it seemed, because years later he still believes it was love at first sight.


	7. Continuum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for chapter 15 of main story part 2

With how things ended up, Yuki can't help but laugh at the fact that Ban was the first to notice Momo.

Yuki feels bad about it, but if he had to admit it, he kinda didn't look a lot at their public at the time, so he wasn't exactly aware of their fans until Ban pointed him out. Until Ban asked, when they were just about to go on stage and he was scanning the public, if Yuki had seen that kid.

Yuki teased Ban at first, asking if he liked young kids, but during the live he realised exactly why that boy stood out. It wasn't just because they didn't have many male fans - even amongst their female fans he was quite enthusiastic. Yuki couldn't help but smile, letting the kid's excitement fire him up a bit.

Talking about Momo became a bit of a habit for him and Ban after that, and they'd wonder sometimes about that kid's life. Yuki calls him 'Mr. middle schooler' once and things go downhill from there. Ban laughs, argues he doesn't think the kid's _that_ young, they promise to ask him something about his life when they find a chance but instead they just look at him before lives and a bit after.

They speculate a bit, too, and they end up finding out some things: he isn't a middle schooler, he's actually in high school, plays soccer and went to nationals (it's Yuki's treat that night); Ban comments he's always with a girl and Yuki teases him again, but finds out it's just his older sister (Ban takes him out for a drive that night).

Ban never teases him back when Yuki brings it up first, and he's glad about that when he notices he's doing it a lot. He grew used in a short time to looking for that boy in the public before or at the beginning of their lives, and sometimes it takes a while but they always find him, eventually. He really _is_ always there.

This certainty reassures Yuki in a way he doesn't understand, but it also worries him when he suddenly sees that kid on the stage when things go haywire on that one Christmas live. Yuki remembers talking with Ban about how this kid is always, _always_ there, watching, but they didn't expect him to intervene.

But it's that intervention that pulls them together, that draws the kid into his and Ban's life and eventually changes Yuki's forever.

The kid's name is Momo, and when he hears it Yuki thinks to himself that this is enough to sate his curiosity by now, this will do (he doesn't ask himself why _'by now'_ , why _'it'll do'_ ).

His interest's already piqued, however, and when Momo starts spending more time with them Yuki realises he doesn't mind this friendly presence (he never asks about the one time he wasn't friendly. He just takes whatever Momo wants to give him).

Things go on like this for a while, a very nice while in which Yuki feels like someone's got his back in his silly banter with Ban, and maybe Momo helping them out feels so natural because that's exactly how they met, after months talking about approaching him and never actually doing it. Yuki finds Momo is even nicer to have around than it was to look at him from the stage, and he finds himself laughing more often than not.

Minor inconveniences aside, Yuki can say those days together were truly happy. That's why he felt something was off when that man approached him and Ban, and they only had to look at each other to know they were thinking the same.

Of course, the guy was a famed producer, so Yuki was excited to hear he was looking for them at first, but then he knew it: that man was dangerous. Ban asked him to let them think about it, but as soon as the man left he looked at Yuki in the eye and said "We're not doing it"

Yuki nodded, because there was nothing to discuss, but that's where things started getting rough. They tried to secure a contract with another agency as soon as possible just to feel safe, and they managed to find a nice one. Yuki remembers that Momo seemed a bit puzzled to see how relieved they were, but celebrated the arrangement with them anyway.

Then it happens. During an important live, decisive for their new contract, a light fixture falls off. It would've gone right to Yuki's head, but Ban takes the hit. And from then on, Yuki slowly starts giving up.

Yes, there was a certain proposal and he accepted, but Ban refused and Yuki lost contact with him for long years that seemed eternal.

During the first few days following Ban's disappearance (and Yuki's utter failure at finding him), Yuki didn't feel like doing anything. Momo eventually worried about them, because neither of them was taking his calls or answering his messages, and when he asks Yuki to open the door to their place (only Yuki's for a while), that was the first time Yuki got up from bed in days.

Momo prepares a bath for him, promises he'll help look for Ban and cooks something terrible while Yuki's in the bathtub, then dries and combs his hair when he comes out.

"I need a haircut too, right..." is the first thing Yuki says with a straight voice, without choking or sobbing, and it's still barely a mumble. Momo smiles and kisses his hair, and Yuki shudders at the intimate gesture as Momo answers "I think long hair suits you"

Yuki ends up listening to his advice, mainly because he couldn't bring himself to care enough at first, then because he kinda sees the charm. But those first days were the worst Yuki's ever felt, and Momo was gentle, very gentle, until Yuki says "I'm quitting"

It's only two words, but they completely erase Momo's smile in an instant, draw pure despair in his face. He breaks, he cries and chokes on his own tears as he begs Yuki to reconsider. He says what Yuki never expected to hear, “Let me be your partner”, and then it’s almost time for Yuki to break again, but he’s too broken already. Yuki didn’t think it was possible for him until then, and it was pretty difficult anyway, but he manages to say _‘no’_ to Momo.

Momo keeps insisting, though, and it gets harder to reject him each time. Yuki wishes he had half the strength Momo has, half the courage, but he can’t bring himself to move on. At that time, Yuki couldn’t believe in hope anymore.

When hope reappears in his life, it’s not in Momo’s insistence (a whole month of it, of facing Momo’s unbreakable will) but in his voice. Momo says “I’ll make it work”, and when Yuki says _‘yes’_ it’s not because he really believes it, but because he _wants_ to. Momo’s eyes say more than Yuki’s ever been told, by anyone, and he tells himself he wouldn’t lose anything by trying.

(What are the chances that this kid can really fill Ban’s place? But, alternatively, what else does he have left to lose?)

Then he listens to Momo’s voice, not in some karaoke booth or in the shower but when he’s really trying, when he’s betting the future of Re:vale in it and Yuki’s slapped in the face by hope. He feels like crying, because going on with this but without Ban, with someone else, feels terrible, but Yuki has to admit that if there’s anyone else that can do this with him it has to be Momo.

(Momo’s expectant eyes remind him he’s supposed to sing his own part and Yuki tries after weeks of neglecting his voice, and it hurts to see how different he sounds, but his passion is finally back).

Being with Momo is nothing like being with Ban, though: Yuki has to be the adult here, or at least he tries to, and he’s the experienced one. He has to teach Momo all he’s learnt, and thank god Momo is a competent pupil, one who gives his everything to each lesson.

But Momo is also a very different person, one that specializes in creating bonds and that’s when Yuki realises how Momo was hoping to help him. He starts taking a page from Momo’s book, he slowly starts to come out of his shell and socialize a bit, even when all he wants to do is go back home to Momo.

By the time they have their first concert together, Yuki doesn’t know if he was healed by time or Momo’s presence, intensified when they start living together, but he feels energized and excited all night. After that live it’s the first time he feels like kissing Momo and that earnest wish freezes him, terrifies him only until Momo decides to do it himself a while later. He realises he’s fallen hard for Momo and he isn’t really sure what to do with that.

That night, he falls in love with this Re:vale, too, and that’s something he _can_ admit.

Momo knows what to do about strange feelings, or at least he’s willing to find a solution together, and Yuki wishes he could be less vague about the turbulence in his heart and the burning fire Momo’s ignited in him. Yuki wishes he could be straightforward and simple, and four years go by with him just wishing.

When Momo loses his voice, Yuki knows he can blame the graffities and the extremism of outraged fanatics all he wants, but at the end of the day it’s all his fault. He can’t bear it but he still doesn’t know what to do, how to do it, because all these years all he did when he felt Momo’s discouragement was lean extra hard on him, kiss him extra passionate, give him all the “I love you”s his voice could say.

That’s not enough for this kind of heartbreak. Yuki feels as terrified as he did the first time he wished he could kiss Momo, but refuses to compare something as beautiful as his love with the despair of knowing he ruined everything.

A lie is what Yuki’s truth needs to be exposed, in the end, and no matter what he feels blessed when Momo sings again, finally, and reminds Yuki how hope feels like. This time is not as violent as the first - instead, it feels like a heavenly caress, it feels like waking up to Momo’s jokes and his twinkling eyes.

Five years after losing hope and finding it again, Yuki vows to himself he’ll be a good husband, promises he’ll let his love show. Momo’s eyes are still telling him more than anything in his life, more than Yuki can answer to, but he swears he’ll find a way to change that.

For Momo, the one who’s always been there. For their happiness together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waaah, it took me a while to post this, sorrryyyy! Kinda got sidetracked by my own birthday, but well: happy belated birthday to the sweetest boy, my beloved fellow scorpian. I love Momo, I'm just so OTL Hope you enjoyed these!


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